IRC ⇝

Internet Relay Chat

(IRC) /I-R-C/, occasionally /*rk/ A
client-serverchat system of large (often worldwide)
networks. IRC is structured as networks of Internetservers, each accepting connections from client programs,
one per user.

The IRC community and the Usenet and MUD communities
overlap to some extent, including both hackers and regular
folks who have discovered the wonders of computer networks.
Some Usenet jargon has been adopted on IRC, as have some
conventions such as emoticons. There is also a vigorous
native jargon (see the entry for "chat").

The largest and first IRC network is EFNet, with a smaller
breakaway network called the Undernet having existed since
1992, and dozens of other networks having appeared (and
sometimes disappeared) since.